Wars That Were Mistakes

It is Sunday and what better time for a little history? What better time to correct some historic misconceptions?

AS most people know that I am an antiwar supporter after witnessing combat first hand…..

With Ukraine exploding and the war of words over Taiwan the US seems to be running head long into another war……of all the wars that have erupted since the end of WW2….must were a mistake that all it did was waste money and cost many American lives.

Wars like the Spanish-American, World War One, Vietnam….this is the one that I am most familiar with…..Vietnam…..

The U.S. war in Vietnam had an undeniably just cause which was to defend the Republic of South Vietnam from Communist takeover. However, Vietnam was never a U.S. vital national interest and the loss of 58,000 soldiers killed in action was not justifiable and did nothing to further U.S. national security. This is particularly the case given that Communist North Vietnam ended up annexing South Vietnam anyway, and the Communists took control of Laos and Cambodia as well. The Vietnam War proved to be the worst strategic mistake by U.S. leaders since President Harry Truman cut off all military assistance to the Nationalists in 1946 at a time when they were on the verge of winning the Chinese Civil War—leading mainland China to fall to the Communists instead.

That is one read about the others….

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/8-wars-united-states-should-never-have-fought-201824

Any opinions on these wars?

As long as we are talking about Vietnam…..here is some info that you probably did not know…..

We all have heard about the bravery and costs of places like Khe San, Hue…..but most of that was all show…..did we win all conflicts with our superior military?

Not really they were seldom reported….you know keep the home fires burning brightly….sort of thing….

One theme presented by supporters of the American empire is the U.S. military is invincible and can never lose unless stabbed in the back by impatient politicians. They claim the U.S. military never lost a battle during the entire Vietnam war. On August 30, 2011, President Barack Obama proclaimed to a gathering of veterans: “But let it be remembered that you won every major battle of that war. Every single one.” Vietnam vet Senator John McCain repeated this lie in a 2013 article in the “Wall Street Journal.” This myth was disputed by America’s most decorated officer of that war, Colonel David Hackworth, in his book “About Face.” The U.S. military had every advantage, yet mistakes were made and battles lost. Internet research turns up these 112 lost battles of the Vietnam war:

1. Battle of Ap Bac – In January 1963, American advisors launched a battle after they pressured reluctant South Vietnamese officers to use American air mobility assets to destroy the Viet Cong. The attack was a disaster in which the VC mauled a far larger force while shooting down five American helicopters (pictured) and damaging eight, while killing three Americans and wounding eight.

2. The Sinking of the USNS Card – This World War II aircraft carrier was later used as a transport for American military cargo. On May 2, 1964, it was moored in a heavily defended harbor in the Saigon River. Two VC commandos crawled down a sewer pipe and attached explosives to the ship. The explosion knocked a huge hole in the hull and killed five American crewmen, causing the ship to sink 45 feet to the river bed.

There are so many more…..checkout the list…..

http://www.g2mil.com/lost_vietnam.htm

As you can see not all was blued skies and unicorns….and I would bet every war has had their failures that we seldom hear about until many years later.

Here is one last thought—-the US has been in a state of war since the end of WW2…..that is damn near 80 years….just think what this country could have accomplished with the funds that was wasted on wars we could win.

Was all that waste worth it in the end?

Say what is on your mind

Have a day…..be well….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Usual Saturday News

The weekend begins and my service of providing my readers with the most worthless news out there…..hopefully they, my readers, will get a chuckle or two to start their weekend.

Spain has done something unique….I say bravo for Spain……

Spain has assured women that all of them are welcome on its beaches this summer. The nation’s equality ministry tweeted an image of five women of various ages and body types, one of whom appeared to have a mastectomy scar, with the message: “Summer is ours too. Enjoy it how, where and with whomever you want.” The tweet is part of a body positivity campaign produced by the ministry along with a Spanish rights group, NBC News reports. The Instituto de las Mujeres said Thursday it’s in response “to the fatphobia, hate and questioning of non-normative bodies, particularly women’s bodies that is more pronounced in the summer period.”

The campaign raised questions. A former leader of the United Left party called the effort absurd and said it’s an attempt to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Others wondered whether women really need the government’s permission to go to the beach. Some posts asked why men were excluded, adding photos of various male body types. The ruling Podemos party answered the criticism, per the Guardian, by tweeting, “If bodies bother you, you can stay home tweeting.”

This is just scary…..makes one want to stay away from the pleasures of watery vacay……

The Missouri resident who was infected with a brain-eating amoeba while visiting Iowa has died. The unnamed person is believed to have contracted the amoeba while swimming in Taylor County’s Lake of Three Fires in late June; the lake was closed afterward as a precaution. No other cases have been reported. “Because these cases are so incredibly rare and out of respect for the family, we do not intend to release additional information about the patient which could lead to the person’s identification,” the communications director from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services tells the Des Moines Register.

The Naegleria fowleri amoeba, which has been called “the worst parasite in the world,” causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which has a fatality rate of 97%. The rare but deadly series of events happens when, while in warm freshwater, the amoeba goes up a person’s nose. It travels from there to the brain tissue and starts destroying it. Headaches, fever, nausea, and vomiting are among the initial symptoms. Of the 154 cases reported in the US over the past six decades, only four people have survived, NBC News reports. The lake has not yet been confirmed as the source, and other public water sources are being tested, officials say.

This gives a whole new definition of the term ‘brain worms’….

I live on the Gulf Coast and it was once the hub of the seafood industry….but when it declined casinos too over…..but I live in the center of seafood and yet I do not eat any of it…..for all those lovers of shrimp there is bad news.

Despite its popularity, there are a few reasons people avoid this seafood: For starters, the contaminants and cholesterol in shrimp are two concerns. Then, add in the serious questions about farming and harvesting and you may be wondering if shrimp is bad for you.

But, even with the downsides, there are plenty of benefits to snacking on this tasty crustacean. “In addition to being a healthy protein option, shrimp is a great source of selenium, copper and B12, which are all important in many parts of metabolism,” says Amanda Lane, RD, CDCES, founder of Healthful Lane Nutrition.

Here’s what you need to know about shrimps’ health risks, benefits and how to pick quality seafood.

Just like all animal products, there are a few health and sustainability concerns with eating shrimp.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/13773141-is-shrimp-bad-for-you/

Since I do not consume seafood I do not fish….but sport fishing is a big industry for the Gulf region…..this report illustrates it can be dangerous as well as sporty….

A 70-year-old woman was stabbed by the bill of a 100-pound sailfish that leapt out of the water as her companions were trying to reel it in on a boat near the Florida coast, authorities said. The sailfish stabbed the woman from Arnold, Maryland, in the groin area with its pointed bill on Tuesday while she was standing in the boat as two companions tried to bring it in on a fishing line about two miles offshore from Stuart, Florida, according to a report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, per the AP.

The companions applied pressure to the wound, and the woman was taken to Stuart for medical treatment. The woman told deputies that the incident happened so fast that she didn’t have time to react, according to the sheriff’s office report. Sailfish are among the fastest fish species in the ocean and, like the swordfish, are recognizable by their extended, pointed bills.

In these times of high inflation I try to give my readers something to help out their food choices…..this time it is roasted chick peas…..

Those cans of chickpeas sitting in your cupboard have been hiding an amazing secret. Roasted in the oven, chickpeas transform into a crispy, salty, savory snack. So tiny. So easy to eat by the handful. So irresistible. This is dangerous knowledge.

If you haven’t yet been introduced to this snack, please allow me to do the honors. Here is our step-by-step recipe for roasting chickpeas in the oven.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-make-crispy-roasted-chickpeas-in-the-oven

That be it for this Saturday……enjoy the read and enjoy your weekend…..be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A New Third Party (Here We Go Again)

All the bigotry and hatred has divided this country into opposing units…..former Repubs and Dems have decided to try and form a third party……

Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system.

The new party, called Forward and whose creation was first reported by Reuters, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. They hope the party will become a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters.

The new party is being formed by a merger of three political groups that have emerged in recent years as a reaction to America’s increasingly polarized and gridlocked political system. The leaders cited a Gallup poll last year showing a record two-thirds of Americans believe a third party is needed.

The merger involves the Renew America Movement, formed in 2021 by dozens of former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump; the Forward Party, founded by Yang, who left the Democratic Party in 2021 and became an independent; and the Serve America Movement, a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents whose executive director is former Republican congressman David Jolly.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-former-republicans-democrats-form-new-third-us-political-party-2022-07-27/

My thoughts…Yang is a techie and is a business man….this new party will be a big business party….we already have two of those we do not need another.

I will give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for an official platform before I go full monty on them.

This is NOTHING new……anyone remember Unity08 or AmericansElect2012….both we a team up of GOPers and Dems….they were con jobs….read what I wrote back then….

Yes, We Have No Third Party Today

Please tell me the Yang is not doing this just to keep his hat in the ring…..I mean he lost the NYC race….

I believe we definitely need a good third party apart from the crap of the corrupt two we have now….but right now I do not think this is it…..we need a true Progressive party…..a Bull Moose Party…..(i wrote about this in 2010…will you listen now?)

How About A “Bull Moose Party”? #1

How About A New “Bull Moose Party”? #2

Please thoughts will be appreciated.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Does Manchin Play Ball?

For a couple of years Manchin has been a thorn in the Dems butt…..he works for big coal and seldom will vote for anything that will hurt his masters pocketbook……

But times change (interesting thought but not change at all)……Manchin is playing ball with Dems on a bill……an expansive bill that covers drug prices, tax loopholes, etc…..

Sen. Joe Manchin reached agreement with Senate Democratic leaders to support President Biden’s domestic spending plan, legislation addressing health care costs, climate change, and other priorities. The deal reverses Manchin’s position of two weeks ago, when he said he couldn’t commit to the bill before economic data is released next month, the New York Times reports. His statement Wednesday didn’t specify which provisions he backs and which he doesn’t, but it indicated general support for the climate and energy programs, as well as some tax proposals. Until now, Manchin has been the holdup on Democrats getting the president’s economic package through Congress.

Manchin had cited inflation as the main reason he was holding up the plan. Saying “Build Back Better is dead,” Manchin recast the legislation as the Inflation Reduction Act, contrasting it with last year’s spending plan. This bill will “cut the inflation taxes Americans are paying, lower the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs, and ensure our country invests in the energy security and climate change solutions we need to remain a global superpower,” he said. Manchin also agreed to measures to reduce health care costs, including allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of certain prescription drugs for seniors. Corporations and the very wealthiest would see tax loopholes closed, per the Hill.

Some Democrats feared the unpleasant intraparty fighting on the legislation, which has been going on for months, would damage their chances in the November midterm elections, per the Washington Post. Now that the West Virginia Democrat and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have settled, Democrats could get the bill moving as early as next week. Biden added his endorsement of the agreement on the $670 billion package in a statement Wednesday. “This is the action the American people have been waiting for,” the president said.

Will Manchin stay true to his word?

Then there is the other Dem that is a thorn in the ass, Sinema……

Will she play ball or will she continue to be a stumbling block for progress?

Joe Manchin stunned DC Wednesday by announcing that he had reversed himself and would back Democrats’ sweeping spending plan after all. The surprise deal the West Virginia senator struck with Sen. Chuck Schumer has provided Democrats with their “best news” in weeks, notes Politico, because it means the party should be able to push through President Biden’s agenda on climate change and health care. “Should” is the operative word there, however. Because as Axios points out, it’s still unclear whether Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema—who with Manchin has bucked her party on tax issues previously—will go along. Democrats cannot afford even one defection because all Republicans oppose the plan.

We do not have a comment, as she will need to review the text,” a Sinema spokesperson says. On Thursday, Manchin confirmed to CNN that she was not part of the deal he struck with Schumer. “I have not spoken to her about this. … I would hope that she would be receptive,” he said, per a tweet from CNN’s Manu Raju. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sinema did not attend a party caucus meeting on Thursday led by Schumer. One potential sticking point: Manchin agreed to close a tax loophole known as “carried interest,” which concerns how investments are taxed, but Sinema has long opposed such a move, per Hot Air. In general, she has resisted any moves that would result in higher taxes.

Assuming Democrats can get Sinema on board and pass the legislation, it would represent a “massive victory” for them, per Axios. At the New York Times, David Leonhardt writes that the resulting climate legislation in particular would “probably have more lasting importance than anything else President Biden signs in his first two years in office.” The Republican view on all this? The deal’s 15% corporate minimum tax and increased spending are “reckless” in the current economic climate, says Sen. John Barrasso, per Reuters. And Sen. Joni Ernst called for more production of domestic oil and natural gas as a way to lower gasoline prices, rather than adding new tax incentives for electric vehicles, as Biden’s climate plan does.

I have no confidence in the word of these two political stooges….they front for business and will only do what they are told.

How is your faith?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Bummer For The Army

The news that is not making news is the US Army is having a problem looking for recruits to sign up…….

The Army is running short of soldiers. The military branch is projected to end the current fiscal year with 466,000 soldiers, which CBS News reports is about 20,000 short of the goal. And the trend line is only getting worse—the total at the end of the 2023 fiscal year is expected to drop to between 445,000 and 452,000. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Gen. James McConville, the Army’s chief of staff, have laid all this out in a new memo, along with potential ways to boost recruitment—mainly through signing bonuses and more choices about where recruits eventually will get stationed.

As USA Today notes, military recruitment typically suffers when employment is robust in the private sector, and that’s clearly the case in 2022, with unemployment hovering near historic lows. The Army is offering $50,000 bonuses for those who sign up for six years, and $35,000 bonuses for those who can ship out within 45 days of recruitment. Through April, the Army had met just 68% of its goal, a shortfall of more than 8,000 soldiers, notes the newspaper. The Navy also was short, though only by 8%, or about 1,500 sailors, while the Air Force, Marines, and Space Force were all on track with their recruitment goals.

“We’ve got unprecedented challenges with both a post-COVID-19 environment and labor market, but also private competition with private companies that have changed their incentives over time,” Gen. Joseph Martin, vice chief of staff of the Army, told a House panel this week, per CNN. If the projections for 2023 prove to be accurate, the Army will have missed its original goal by about 28,000 soldiers. Martin noted that only 23% of Americans ages 17 to 24 meet the physical requirements to join the Army, a figure that’s also on the decline.

Is that a good answer to the problem? To try and bribe people to join.

What Is Wrong With Our Country #2

WTF Happened?

This is my continuing series on my thoughts on the problems this countries is having which is scraping the very foundations of our government.

I started with a post about money in our government that has got its claws in the legislative process and grind our system to a virtual halt…….https://lobotero.com/2022/02/09/what-is-wrong-with-our-government/

I wish I could state that it was the only problem we are having….but sadly it is not and that is why I decided to continue the series.

This post is about the political parties and their role in grinding this country to a halt.

The current ruling two-party duopoly is so ubiquitous that we take it as a given. We teach the “two-party system” in government classes. Taxpayers pay for their primary elections, notwithstanding that legally, parties are private associations. We have allowed the two ruling parties to institutionalize themselves in our political and governing systems. They get preferential ballot access and legislative committee assignments and camaign finance laws are rigged in their favor . . . . just to name a few of the advantages they are afforded.
Given this dominance, one might conclude that the two-party system arises from our constitutional roots. But in fact, the opposite is the case. Virtually every one of the Founding Fathers eschewed the idea of political parties and fretted over what might happen to the country if political parties were to come to dominate the country.

It appears that their reservations were well founded.

Let’s start with everyone’s hero our first president, George Washington….

“[Political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. . . .Let me now . . . warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party

. . . . It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeebles the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption . . . A fire not to quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into flame . . .”

Then there was John Adams’ thoughts on parties….

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”

Now the ever popular Alexander Hamilton…..

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a political party, I would decline to go.

Then to Thomas Paine the original Father of the United States….

“Party knows no impulse but spirit, no prize but victory. It is blind to truth, and hardened against conviction. It seeks to justify error by perseverance, and denies to its own mind the operation of its own judgment. A man under the tyranny of party spirit is the greatest slave upon the earth, for none but himself can deprive him of the freedom of thought.”

As you can see the Founders at least some of them could not see any redeeming qualities in the party system….and recent events are proving these people right.

And yet with Jefferson presidency run parties became the rule of the day…..an identity if you will…..

“Two political sects have arisen within the U. S. The one believing that the executive is the branch of our government which the most needs support; the other that like the analogous branch in the English Government, it is already too strong for the republican parts of the Constitution; and therefore in equivocal cases they incline to the legislative powers: the former of these are called federalists, sometimes aristocrats or monocrats, and sometimes tories, after the corresponding sect in the English Government of exactly the same definition: the latter are styled republicans, whigs, jacobins, anarchists, disorganizers, etc. these terms are in familiar use with most persons.”

Hamilton and the Federalists….

Federalists

Committed to a fiscally sound and nationalistic government
Favored a National Band, Tariffs, and Good Relations with Britain
Supported Implied Powers – those powers authorized by a legal document (from the Constitution) which, while not stated, seem to be implied by powers expressly stated.
More conservative views
Composed of the elite class

Jefferson and the ‘Republicans’……

(Jeffersonian) Republicans

Committed to the rights of states, the primacy of yeoman farmers, and the principles of republicanism (liberty and inalienable rights)
Opposed the Jay Treaty, wanted good relations with France, not Britain
Opposed the ideas of a National Bank or implied powers
Predominately “Anti-Administration”

As you can see in the early days of the republic in spite of the dire warnings political parties became the center of our political world….and now we have a system that is as useless as it can be…..because of the influence of political parties……which has brought this nation into the world of political tribalism.

As this country continues to travel this path the nation will splinter and fall apart……

Is that what we want?

Does this country have a future that the Founders intended?

I ask zand wait for an answer…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–27Jul22

With the recent rulings by those political hacks on SCOTUS the public is started to see just how worthless and owned the Court has become…..it has lost all respect by the majority of the people.

Many of us have been calling for term limits on judges for a long time….a lifetime job gives them way too much power.

About 2 in 3 Americans say they favor term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to a new poll that finds a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans saying they have “hardly any” confidence in the court, the AP reports. The poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 67% of Americans support a proposal to set a specific number of years that justices serve instead of life terms, including 82% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans. Views are similar about a requirement that justices retire by a specific age.

The poll was conducted just weeks after the high court issued high-profile rulings including stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion and expanding gun rights. The poll also shows more Americans disapprove than approve of the court’s abortion decision, with just over half saying the decision made them “angry” or “sad.” In the prior poll, conducted in April before a draft of the court’s Roe v. Wade decision was leaked, 18% said they had a great deal of confidence, 54% said they had only some and 27% said they had hardly any. Now, 17% say they have a great deal of confidence, 39% only some, and 43% hardly any.

Of course being an opinionated SOB I had stuff to say about SCOTUS…..

I Have Lots To Say About SCOTUS

I see the rest of society is started seeing (finally) that SCOTUS is a rigged game and that something needs to be done…..and soon.

Right on cue the Dems after the poll came out have introduced a new bill…..

A group of House Democrats introduced a bill on Tuesday to enact term limits for Supreme Court justices, arguing that the move will “restore legitimacy and independence to the nation’s highest court.”

The legislation, titled the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act, would authorize the president to nominate Supreme Court justices every two years — in the first and third years after a presidential election. The justices who have been on the court the longest will be moved to senior status first.

If confirmed by the Senate, those individuals would serve a maximum 18 years on the bench. After their tenures are complete, the Supreme Court justices would retire from active service and assume senior status.

Justices on the bench at the time of the bill’s enactment would switch to senior status one by one as justices are confirmed to the bench in the first and third years after a presidential election.

Under senior status, justices will still hold their office on the Supreme Court, which includes official duties and pay. If the number of justices dips below nine at some point — because of a vacancy, disability or disqualification — the justice who most recently attained senior status would serve as the ninth associate justice.

(thehill.com)

Were they paying attention to the people’s wants or is it electioneering?

I am suspicious of the timing of the bill….after all the Dems are not looking good for 2022….were they trying to find a leg up for the upcoming campaigns?

Please say what is on your mind.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Authoritarianism 101

There is much being said about the coming 2024 election….there is even some talk of a radical plan to re-shape the very structure of the American government.

All that talk made me think of a series looking at the possible coming battles……

Now more about this radical plan…….

Former President Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his “America First” ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios.

The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say.

During his presidency, Trump often complained about what he called “the deep state.”

The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as “Schedule F,” developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump’s term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election.

The reporting for this series draws on extensive interviews over a period of more than three months with more than two dozen people close to the former president, and others who have firsthand knowledge of the work underway to prepare for a potential second term. Most spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive planning and avoid Trump’s ire.

https://www.axios.com/2022/07/22/trump-2025-radical-plan-second-term

Read another take of this possible plan…..

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/22/authoritarianism-101-trump-plot-purge-civil-servants-if-reelected-draws-alarm

Report: If Trump Wins in 2024, His Allies Want to Unmake the Entire Federal Government

This whole scenario should scare the living crap out of any American that loves this country and wants the republic to endure…..

There is so much happening and the civil war is coming like it or not.

You can either stand by and watch the republic die or you can educate yourself and fight for the very existence of our country.

Please choose the later….we are depending on you.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–26Jul22

Occasionally I write about stuff that happens in my state of Mississippi…..this one is just disturbing on so many levels…..

The police chief of a small city in Mississippi is out of a job after an audio recording leaked in which he boasted of killing 13 people on the job and used racist and homophobic slurs, reports USA Today and the Washington Post. The board of aldermen in Lexington voted 3-2 to fire chief Sam Dobbins last week, reports WLBT, after the audio was made public by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. Dobbins is white, while an estimated 80% of Lexington’s 1,600 residents are Black. Among the lines in the recording causing controversy:

“I’ve killed 13 men in my career, justified,” he said. “In my line of duty, I have shot and killed 13 different people.”

“I shot that n—– 119 times, OK? … The vehicle was shot 319 times, but he was hit 119 times by me.” Dobbins suggested he “saved 67 kids in a school” with this shooting in a cornfield, though the Post notes it’s unclear what he is referring to.

“I don’t talk to f—ing queers, I don’t talk to f—ing fa—-s.”

“You’re going to get some s— in the streets, and there’s only going to be one man fighting for you, and it’s going to be me, OK? Don’t ever ruin that, all right, because these other n—–s, they’re [unintelligible]. I don’t give a f— if you kill a motherf—er in cold blood. I will articulate to fix the f—ing problem, and I’m the only man in the business here that’s smart enough to do it.”

The recording was secretly made in April by Robert Lee Hooker, a Black officer who resigned last week. Regarding his claims of killing 13 people, Dobbins (before being fired) told the MCIR, “that’s something we don’t discuss, period.” Of the slurs, he said, “I don’t talk like that.”

This guy is an idiot….it is that simple.

Can you believe the stupidity?

I wish just once something good would happen in my state….instead of the stream of crap from idiots.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Has Our Country Come To This?

There is a social/political storm brewing on the horizon….one that could have long ranging consequences for a generation maybe longer…….

This is my series trying to make sense and help explain why this storm is approaching.

I have written many times about the direction of this country….that it is slipping into complete chaos o rival some third world countries.

But when our political system devolves into this silliness there seems to be no hope remaining…..

Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens on Tuesday published a video encouraging voters to get “RINO-hunting permits.” The 38-second spot shows him on the front porch of a home holding a tactical shotgun and “surrounded by men in US armed forces camouflage uniforms,” per the Hill.As though narrating a wildlife documentary, Greitens whispers, “the RINO feeds off corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice.” The armed men then batter down the door and toss a flash grenade into the residence. Greitens enters and urges viewers to “join the MAGA crew” and get the permit, adding, “there’s no bagging limit … and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.” The caption in the accompanying tweet says, “We are sick and tired of Republicans in Name Only surrendering to Joe Biden & the radical Left.”

Backlash came quickly from all sides. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego said the video “encourages political violence,””and Rep. Juan Castro, another Democrat, called it “sociopathic.” Per the Kansas City Star, Greitens’ GOP primary opponents also condemned the message. Rep. Vicky Hartzler called Greitens “an abuser” and “a blackmailer.” Rep. Billy Long said the ad was “very distasteful,” but he also called his other primary opponents RINOs and said, “The only way to beat RINOs … is at the ballot box.” In response to the Hill, Greitens’ campaign said, “If anyone doesn’t get the metaphor, they are either lying or dumb.”

Rolling Stonesays, “the ad is not subtle. It isn’t even metaphorical.” It is, however, in keeping with past themes in Greitens’ career, including a 2016 campaign video of himself “unleashing hell” with a heavy machinegun. Greitens is former governor of Missouri but was forced to resign in 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance violations. His then-wife also accused him of physical abuse. He and others are running to fill the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt. Per Real Clear Politics, Greitens leads the Republican field in recent polls. The Missouri primary is in August.

This guy is the perfect candidate of the GOP….corrupt, abuser and sexual assault….makes near and dear to Trump.

Has the GOP opened up a ‘paramilitary wing’?

Pennsylvania Capital-Star, columnist J. Patrick Coolican warned that far-right Republican lawmakers are effectively building up their branch of the party into a “paramilitary wing” — driven in part by their voting base’s own fetishization of political violence.

“J.R. Majewski, a Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio, ran an ad (since taken down for copyright issues) in which images of President Joe Biden, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Colin Kaepernick (?!) are flashed on the screen, and then Majewski casually walks around with a rifle and says he’ll ‘do whatever it takes to return this country back to its former glory,'” wrote Coolican. “Blake Masters, the Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, builds his own guns and recently showed one off on social media with the caption: ‘I will remind everyone in Congress what ‘shall not be infringed’ means.’ It’s an especially sinister message, given that Masters’ potential opponent is U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, whose wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords was badly injured in a 2011 mall shooting.”

As Coolican wrote, people should not dismiss these as idle threats — because in the past, long before former President Donald Trump was even born, elected lawmakers and large blocs of their constituents endorsed and carried out acts of violence in similar ways, with horrible consequences.

“America has a long history of political violence, often — though not always — rooted in white supremacy,” wrote Coolican. “As Jelani Cobb recounted in 2020, the American Party, aka the ‘Know Nothings,’ were infamous for their bludgeoning mobs, particularly against immigrant voters. The brutal caning of abolitionist U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner by U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks on the floor of the Senate in 1856 was just the most infamous attack during a time when physical combat in the U.S. Congress was shockingly common, as historian Joanne Freeman records in ‘The Fields of Blood.’ Between 1830 and 1860, there were more than 70 violent incidents in House and Senate chambers, on nearby streets and — yes, this is real — ‘dueling grounds.'”

https://www.rawstory.com/republican-paramilitary/

Many Americans of both parties think the government is corrupt and needs to be dealt with on some level….

A new poll from the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics finds a majority of Americans think the government is corrupt and stacked against them.

To probably no one’s surprise, 73 percent of poll respondents who identify as “strong Republican” respondents agreed with the statement that the government is “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.” But Republicans are far from alone in this sentiment. Fifty-one percent of “very liberal” voters agreed with the same statement.

Overall, 56 percent of survey respondents said that the government is corrupt. This included 66 percent of all Republican respondents, 63 percent of independents, and 46 percent of Democrats.

The survey of 1,000 registered voters found that a significant number of people expect that extreme measures may be necessary to protect against government overreach. 28 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.” Thirty-six percent of Republicans, 35 percent of independents, and 20 percent of Democrats agreed.

Most Americans Think Government Is Corrupt, a Third Say Armed Revolution ‘May Be Necessary’ Soon

I ask the question again….how did it come to this?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Month: July 2022

Wars That Were Mistakes

That Usual Saturday News

A New Third Party (Here We Go Again)

Does Manchin Play Ball?

A Bummer For The Army

What Is Wrong With Our Country #2

Federalists

(Jeffersonian) Republicans

Closing Thought–27Jul22

Authoritarianism 101

Closing Thought–26Jul22

Why Has Our Country Come To This?